Uncategorized

It’s Sunday morning here in “Velcro” Beach.  No wait, I meant to say Vero Beach Florida.  However, it’s easy to lapse and call it by it’s “cruiser name, Velcro” as once you get here, you won’t want to leave.  Me, I have trouble sticking in one place for more than a few days but I have to say that Vero is a great spot to settle and NEVER MOVE AGAIN.   It’s chilly this morning and the heater is running but I am sure that it will warm up later in the day as it’s forecast to be a beautiful day.

The harbor has room for more than 100 boats on moorings and in the marina and we got a great spot on a mooring just off of the main dock.  It’s very pretty.  However, when the breeze drops at night, watch out for “no-see-ums” as they will find you.

The harbor and mornings are owned by the city and the staff at the marina office is very helpful and friendly.  The moorings, and there are a lot of them, are not expensive, at less than $20 per day and less than about $350 per month.  And, the city runs a shuttle bus system that is amazingly extensive so you can get most anywhere in the city with a minimum of fuss.  Of course, if you don’t know the schedule you can easily sit at a bus stop for nearly an hour waiting for the next bus.  However, you can’t beat the cost, “$0” per ride.

I had heard that Vero is a great spot to visit with it’s amazing bus system and terrific harbor, but on our last trip through here we had only spent a night or two so didn’t “do Vero” properly.   Well, not this time.  This time I expect that we will spend a week.

“A week Bob?  Are you kidding?  You’ve never stayed ANYWHERE for a week!?”   Yes, I know it sounds implausible but I am trying to SLOW DOWN as I enter my 4^th year of retirement.  Honest…

Well, Brenda is doubtful too, but we’ve already been here since Thursday and  it’s Sunday.  A week doesn’t sound that far off.  Really…  That’s of course, as long as there isn’t a weather window…  No, I must be strong.  A week…

Besides, the shuttle bus system is FREE.  I WILL BE STRONG.

Anyway, the last few days here have been very pleasant and shuttle or not, the beach is only about a 20 minute walk from the marina and the neighborhoods you walk through (yes, the shuttle does take you there too) are very scenic.

Along the way are modest homes shaded by massive live oaks.  Quite beautiful. I was struck by this huge staghorn fern.  What an amazing specimen.The last few days have been very pleasant with daytime temperatures in the 70s with cooler, but not too cool, nights.  Today is the first since we arrived in Vero when I turned on the heater.  Love those new batteries.  Yesterday it rained hard in the AM but cleared off to a beautiful, if windy, day. 

I believe that I mentioned that I had put a hole in our dink a few days ago and I have been consumed with fixing that hole.  First, I used some glue that I had aboard to affix the patch.  Alas, it didn’t hold as it wasn’t a good quality glue.  Well, it held long enough to pump up the boat but as soon as the sun hit it and expanded the air, the patch couldn’t handle the higher pressure air and gave way.  So, I had to laboriously remove the glue and try again with a two-part glue that I purchased at a marine supply place in town.  However, that glue has a 48 hour cure time which meant that we have been without out “family car” for two days.  If you think it’s hard for me to stay in an anchorage for a week, imagine me trying to stay aboard for TWO DAYS in port.  Not easy, I assure you.  Well, Chuck and Sandy, our friends aboard Summer Wind, came to our rescue and have been our “shore link” for the last two days, picking us up so we wouldn’t be stuck.  Well, today is the big day when I will once again, pump up the dink.  I so hope that it holds.  We are so dependent on the dink to get us around that if my patch doesn’t hold then I will have to find a place to take it for some professional help.  I would think that I should be in good shape though as I did follow the directions.  Fingers, and toes, crossed.

Anyway, we have enjoyed Vero and are looking forward a spending more time here prior to heading further south.

Today we hope to have brunch at the Vero  Beach Yacht Club and take another walk over to the beach.  Should be a nice sunny day.  Rumor has it that things aren’t so warm and sunny at home in CT.  Glad we’re here.   Have I mentioned that I like warm.  Yes, warm is good.

 

 

 

I’s Thursday morning and we are anchored behind a very small island about 5 miles north of Vero Beach.  For reasons that aren’t clear to me, the spot is officially called “Jones Fruit Dock”.   And yes, there appears to be a long dock nearby but I didn’t see any sign of life and certainly no fruit.  Anyway,  the spot is impossibly narrow and we crept into the inlet very slowly to be sure that we didn’t run aground. 

I was particularly sensitive to the “running aground thing” as a few miles up the ICW, earlier in the day, we, no make that “I” as Brenda was down below, had run aground solidly as we tried to find our way around a dredging barge that was, not surprisingly, working in the middle of the channel.  I had called them to ask for directions in passing but did not get an answer.  As I am not used to passing a working vessel at an arms-length, I decided to give them a “reasonable” distance pass.  Oops, not a good choice, too far to the left of the channel.  Bump, bump, bump, you are stopping now… We were aground.

So, for the next half hour, or was it two hours, we worked ourselves around bit by bit.  I was pretty sure that we were there for the duration, and didn’t see any solution save a call to the towboat service (yes I paid my dues).  However, with Brenda at the helm and the engine roaring, I put up the genoa and hiked out on the lee rail until finally we were free.  I guess the final “push” came from a bit of wind combined with my extra weight, such as it is, out on the rail to heel us over ever so much more.  Well, that did the trick.

Unfortunately, there isn’t enough of me to make much of a difference when it comes to hiking on the rail, so I have decided to have an extra biscuit, or two, for breakfast today.  You can never have too much movable “ballast” for next time and I am sure that there will indeed be a next time.

So, there you have it, the two kinds of cruisers on the ICW are those who have run aground and those who lie about it.    Me, I am the former even if I am not proud of it.

Sorry, no pictures of our escape and narrow pass near the dredge.  There’s something unsettling about pointing directly at an anchored dredge, less than 100’ away at 3,500RPM with the genoa up and sheeted in.  Too busy, I guess.

Well, compared to that fun time, the rest of the day was uneventful but I have to say that I was plenty ready to drop the hook and enjoy a drink with Brenda after a long day of standing at the wheel.

Happily, the days are pretty warm now with yesterday the first reliably “short sleeve” day so far.  And, if that’s not enough, this morning was the first that I didn’t have to turn on the heat when I got up.

Yahoo, we have arrived.  It’s WARM again.  When the temperatures begin to head “south” in the chilly north, I often say “well, it will get better in May”, now I guess I can say that “it will get better in Vero Beach”.   Yes, we are now officially in “sunny Florida”, and I am thankful for it.

Last evening , after anchoring in this lovely spot, Brenda and I sat up on the bow of Pandora and enjoyed the sunset.  As the light began to fade, and the mosquitos began to arrive but we won’t dwell on that right now, a dolphin slowly swam by and entertained us with his rhythmic breathing as he surfaced every few yards, while overhead the pelicans flew by heading home for the evening.   It was a pretty idyllic moment and a lot nicer than being aground on a sandbar.

I didn’t get a photo of the sunset last evening as I was too busy drinking my G&T but I did get this shot of the early sunrise in Cocoa yesterday morning.  This view captures the mood of last night aboard Pandora pretty well.Cocoa was a fun place to spend a few days and Brenda made a point of visiting the local knitting store to get some silk yarn for a small format tapestry that she is working on that will be in a show in the spring.  The show calls for pieces that are only 4”x6”.  She will be working very small so getting the detail perfect at that scale will be tough.  This is the image that she has chosen, a shot that I took early in our trip this year.  I am excited to see how she interprets this in fabric.  It will be a challenging piece to weave.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Cocoa is pretty serious about their waterfront area and this shot shows how much boardwalk they have.  It’s a nice spot to walk in the later afternoon light.While Brenda was picking out yarn for her tapestry, I was visiting that great hardware store that the town is known for.  I had put a link into my last post about this amazing store but I couldn’t resist taking a few shots of the row after row of items neatly stacked on shelves.  It’s hard to say how big the store is but trust me, you have never been in a hardware store that is better than this one. 

How about an entire section of stainless steel fittings?Or, a row of woven pickup straps?There is no shortage of screws and bolts on this isle.  “Do you have a 4″ #10 SS pan head self tapping sheet metal screw?”.  “How many do you need?”. Who knows what this section holds but that’s a LOT of metal bins.  I wonder where they found so many drawers?  As my father would have said, “at the used drawer store”.   Probably right.Hey, who left the Home Depot “Homer bucket” in isle 25?

And, speaking of hardware, this trip aboard Pandora is no different than what most folks who cruise expect as they say “cruising is boat repair in exotic places”.  And this trip has proven to have a few “repair opportunities”, as I have come to expect.

Two examples:   A few days ago I put a 3” rip in my inflatable dink at a dock where I snagged an exposed nail.  Oops!  I think it’s fixed now but only time will tell if the patch holds.

And, yesterday I noticed that the engine wasn’t charging the batteries so I “pulled over” and anchored to check it out.  After two stops and several hours of hunting, I was able to track the problem down to a cable end attached (well, it used to be attached) to one of the terminals on the engine alternator, that had cracked and was not longer connected.  Of course, I didn’t have a spare “end” but was able to jury-rig a temporary solution that seems to be holding.   Later today I will take the cable out of the boat and go to a battery shop in Vero Beach and have a new end fitting crimped on.

It is amazing to me that so much can go wrong, even on a well maintained boat like Pandora.  I’d hate to even think of cruising if I wasn’t able to handle simple repairs myself.  Note:  If you are the type of guy that calls in a repair guy to change a tough to reach light bulb, don’t cruise on a small boat.

Well, I am pleased to have the toughest, or at least the coldest, part of the trip behind me and I am looking forward to balmy evenings and not too hot days here in sunny Florida.  Perhaps this “pirate ship” that we passed yesterday anchored in the lee of a small island is a nice shot to use in closing out this post.  It’s funny how many of these “home built” pirate ships we have seen along the ICW but this one looks pretty authentic, save the solar panels on deck. So there, I have come clean, for a second time, that I have indeed run aground on the ICW.   I cannot tell a lie. However, don’t ask me to tell you about the “one that got away”.   Well, it was big, really big.  You will just have to trust me on that.  HONEST!

It’s Monday morning and we are here in Cocoa FL for a few days enjoying this very quaint town on the ICW.  Two years ago, on our last trip passing through this area, we stopped for a few days and it’s nice to be back again. 

Last night we went to a restaurant downtown for a drink and appetizer and while we were sitting at the bar, we asked the bartender what there was to do that would be fun while we visited.   She immediately suggested that we visit the Kennedy Space Center, but when we said that we were here by boat her expression became perplexed as it seems that there really isn’t ANYTHING to do in the town itself if we didn’t have a car?   Well, at least not from the point of view of a local.  Anyway, we think it’s a nice place to walk around or go out to dinner.   Perhaps we should find a car and visit the space center.  I’ll think about that.

One thing that I plan on doing is to visit the local hardware store.   It’s a terrific store and perhaps one of the best old time hardware store I have ever been in, the sort that were everywhere before Home Depot and Lowes redefined the genre.    I was quite taken by the place on our last visit and wrote about it in this post.

When we were in New Smyrna we enjoyed walking around town in particular as there was a street fair going on with lots of activity.  I particularly liked this snack truck built on an old Model A ford truck body. In Cocoa there is a great waterfront park as is so often the case in towns along the ICW.   The ancient live oaks are very beautiful with resurrection ferns growing on the limbs.We visited a nice little craft gallery in New Smyrna and outside they had a “beehive oven” .    This reminded me of my plans to make a “mud oven” at home.  I have been stymied by my inability to find a source of good clay near where we live so perhaps I will build one like this, out of firebrick and cement.  It would certainly be more weather resistant in winter CT weather.   We were first introduced to mud ovens in Maine a number of years ago. I was smitten and wrote a post about our first experience at a mud oven garden party.  Perhaps this summer I’ll build one.  Hope so.

We had a very nice lunch at a new restaurant in New Smyrna and I particularly like this photo of Brenda.  Notice that she stopped looking at her phone long enough for me to take her picture.  When we are aboard and away from family, we are pretty desperate for contact.   “Bob, call your mother!”That evening we had dinner aboard Pandora and went for our first “cocktail cruise” around the mangroves nearby.  We enjoyed watching the water birds watching us.   This Ibis was quite beautiful.  I tried to get a photo of him in flight but alas, just one of him on his perch.Nice shot of what I think was an Egret.We also spied a bright red spot within the mangrove roots which turned out to be a good size crab. His color suggests that he’s already been boiled.  Not so, as he’s just that color naturally.  I guess he’s tough enough to not worry about being well camouflaged. Back aboard we enjoyed a nice evening and dinner.  Brenda’s “birthday flowers looked particularly nice in the evening light.  Perhaps I will title this photo “florials with mixed media, stainless steel, plastic and canvas”.  How artistic.    Yesterday morning we were greeted by a lovely sunrise just before raising the anchor to head to Cocoa. Along the way we passed a spot with thousands of birds that took off in a cloud as we passed by.  There are plenty of birds along the ICW but for some reason there was a huge number in this particular area.    What a din they made as they parted to make way for Pandora’s passing.  It was pretty obvious that they weren’t enthusiastic about us disturbing their peace.Well, it’s a nice sunny day here in Coco so I think we’ll head ashore soon.  Perhaps it would be good spot to get, well, a cup of cocoa.  Yes, that would fit.  

With that in mind, perhaps we should head over to the Bahamas and visit Rum Cay.  That would be even better than a cup of Cocoa if a bit more rustic.  For now, Cocoa seems perfect.

It’s Saturday morning and the sun is OUT AND BRIGHT.  Actually, today is the first day that we have had brilliant sunshine since boarding in St Mary’s a week ago.  It’s been a bit chilly but now it should be a lot warmer going forward.  However, I guess I have written about that enough already.   

As I write this we are anchored off of New Smyrna about 25 miles north of Cape Canaveral.  Our plan is to spend the day ashore and then to continue to make our way south on Sunday, to Cocoa where we will likely spend a few days.  There is a knitting store in Cocoa that Brenda enjoys so I expect that she will spend some time there knitting with the other ladies for an afternoon.

Yesterday was a chilly run and I left the heater running down below so that Brenda could be comfortable as I steered down the ICW.  It was mostly overcast but as the day wore on we were treated to SUN and somewhat warmer temperatures.   We had a good bit of wind so I motor-sailed much of the way.

I enjoyed watching some of my favorite birds, the pelicans, fly by.  It’s amazing to me that something as ungainly as these birds are can fly so gracefully.   This guy was nonplussed by our passing.   Somehow they look like they have a lot on their minds and perhaps that includes disdain for passing boats, like Pandora.   To me, if they could talk, they’d have a deep and authoritative voice. As we passed through endless marshes I was particularly struck by this beautiful Victorian home on the banks. I also spied this fort north of Ponce.  Pretty impressive but it looked a bit out of place near the modern homes in the background. Shortly before we arrived in New Smyrna we passed Ponce Inlet.   The lighthouse looked very pretty in the evening light. The best of all is that it was warm enough for us to sit out in the cockpit and enjoy the sunset while enjoying an “adult beverage”.   As we sat there, admiring the view, flock after flock of birds flew by in the fading light on their way “home”.Today is truly a beautiful day and we are looking forward to being able to soon “retire” our heater for the season. 

Did I say that it’s getting warmer brother Bill?  It is.  Soon, I’ll be sweating.  Sure hope so.  

We are on the move heading south bit by bit.  Now that we aren’t shivering I expect that our pace will slow to a crawl.   

It’s Thursday morning here in, well I want to say “sunny St Augustine” but that would be a lie as it’s frigging overcast for yet another day.  And, I won’t comment on how cold it is in the low 50s as my brother will call me names.   He says that I am soft and that I have no idea what cold is as it’s 15 where he is in PA.   Yes, Bill was pretty blunt about my lack of strength in dealing with the cold.  In fact, he, well, he called me a name.  Something about my not knowing what cold was and that if I wanted cold, well he’d some me cold.   Ok Bill, no it’s not cold here and I am sure that I’ll soon be sweating.   I totally hope so.

Anyway, even if Bill has no sympathy, I think it’s cold and even a little rainy here in but I’ll try not to complain about it any longer.   Well, not any more for today at least.  Just to defend myself, there are plenty of locals who think it’s pretty cold, so there.  I know this because I took a poll.

Well, yesterday we got new house batteries for Pandora’s so she’s all charged up again.   And, they only cost two boat dollars.  The yard that we went to was very efficient and it only took about two hours and some very strong guys to heft out the old ones and put in the new.  These batteries are much bigger than car batteries and weigh in at more than 100lbs each, and there are four of them.  It was great to today to wake up and see the voltage readings in a reasonable range. Amazingly, while they have been showing their age in the last year, the last set lasted over 7 years.  That’s a very long time for any battery.  I am not sure bit I think it’s something like 120 years old in dog years.   It seems that the next owner of Pandora will have years before they have to worry about replacing them again.

Today’s a big day here in St Augustine as it’s Brenda’s birthday and I want to be sure to do what I can to make it a great day for her.  Alert!, alert!, this is not a dress rehearsal…  Got it.   So, early today I ran ashore early to pick up some croissants and made her a latte aboard,her first aboard in 2015.   While I was ashore, I also took a long hot shower at the marina so that I would be nice and clean somewhat less offensive when I presented Brenda with her birthday breakfast.  What a great shower.   I’ll bet that I was plenty pink when I got out as I turned up the temperature as hot as I could stand it. “OK, Bob, enough about your hygine.  What’s with the pink thing?  TMI, TMI!”  Ok, I get it.  Anyway, it was good to be warm and clean.   Oh yeah, Brenda enjoyed breakfast.   That’s one down for the “birthday coordinator”.

Today we’ll spend some time ashore.  St Augustine is a lovely city with some beautiful architecture and great ancient trees lining the streets.  Beautiful stately live oaks.   And, at night the trees on the main drag are all lit up with little white lights.  Very festive.

Henry Flagler, who is generally thought of as the “father of Florida tourism” built two huge beautiful hotels here and a railroad to get customers here from the north.  They both closed years ago as tourists gravitated to southern Florida, but one is now the home to Flagler College and the other home to a terrific museum.  I wrote about a tour of the college on our last visit.  You can read that post here.  (Editor: It was much warmer that day but who’s keeping score?)

I am always struck by how beautiful the city architecture here is.   Wonderful views wherever you look.Did I say that it’s still cool here?  In spite of the current “relatively” low temperatures, there is plenty of tropical foliage.   I am told that the temperatures in the winter tend to swing wildly with some days in the 80s and then, in only a few short days, temperatures dive into the 40s and 50s.  Not cold by the standards of “northerners” but plenty cold out on the water.

On particularly interesting plant is the “resurrection fern” that grows on the limbs of trees and just about anything else that can hold a bit of moisture.   They get their name from the fact that they can shrivel up and look pretty dead when there is a drought and then are “resurrected” and spring back to life within hours when it rains.  This was a plenty happy looking bunch growing on a tile roof over a door in the historic district. Anyway, sitting here in the coffee shop isn’t getting us out to walk around and enjoy the sights.

How about finishing with a nice shot of the “birthday girl” in one of her hand knitted sweater.  She’s nice and toasty.  Good thing as it’s cold. Well, not that cold.  Yes, Bill, I am ALMOST sweating it’s so hot.  Well, at least Pandora’s charged up with her new batteries and ready to go where it’s really warm.   And, don’t forget, birthdays and the proper recognition of same isn’t a dress rehearsal  I’d better get on it.